The Truth About Presents
by Captin of Sirius
Summary: Yomo just wanted to have a nice Christmas this year. His enemy, the wrapping paper, was determined to stop him. Uta helps. Yomo/Uta, 12 Days of OTP Day 5


Hello Tokyo Ghoul fandom! This is my first fic in to your world. I hope you like it. ;) I will be posting a second fic later today in honor of Kaneki's birthday!

I have taken it upon myself to do The 12 Days of OTP, kind of similar to The 12 Days of Christmas. Basically for 12 days I will post fics for the various OTPs that I have. This is late because life got a little crazy on my end of things, so I'm sorry!

Day 5 is dedicated to my ghoul babies! In this fic, Uta and Yomo are already dating, and it's set before Kaneki is kidnapped and tortured. Please, please don't correct me on a timeline for TG, I am well aware of when things happen. This fic is meant to give us happy, cuddly feels because Goddess knows we need them :)

Prompt I used for this one: Character A can't wrap gifts to save their life. Character B is their neighbor and can help.

\- Kida-Asumi

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Christmas didn't matter much to Yomo Renji after his sister died. What was once a holiday full of family fun had now turned in to a cruel reminder of what he had lost. It wasn't until Yoshimura took him under his wing that Renji really began to appreciate Christmas once again. The grandfatherly man would decorate Anteiku in cheap decorations that screamed holiday cheer, and for the month of December they would make holiday festive beverages. A tree was even put up in one of the corners of the shop.

Touka (and Ayato, when he had been with them) hated it. Nishiki didn't enjoy it either, if the way that he cursed the eggnog latte the other day was any indication. Nishiki's girlfriend Kimi, on the other hand, adored the holiday. It helped simmer down the annoyed ghoul down, much to everyone's relief.

The only one that hadn't really given an indication for his feelings on the matter was Kaneki. Some protective part of Renji wanted a genuine reaction from that boy. He did nothing but hide behind layers upon layers of mental blocks and masks. Thus began Renji's quest to make this the best Christmas that Anteiku had ever celebrated.

This year, Renji had saved up what little money he could earn to buy presents for everyone at Anteiku. They weren't grand or expensive, but at the end of the day, he had tried and that's what counts. Now, as he sat in the apartment that was above Uta's shop, he was trying his best to wrap them. The presents refused to cooperate. Being the OCD man that he was, he refused to just accept this defeat.

He had been fighting with them for a few hours now. A couple times he would have them perfectly wrapped around the box, just for the present to pop open. A few times it caught on the tape, too, and the paper was wasted. His hands were sore with cuts from the paper; even though he didn't bleed, they still stung. At one point he considered wrapping them in plastic bags, tying them shut, and writing names on them with a permanent marker. But then Kaneki's sad expression would come to his mind, and Renji's efforts would be renewed once more.

"Fuck." He swore when he accidentally ripped the paper on Hinami's present once again. Shaking his head at himself, he sighed and grabbed her paper, ready to try again.

Soft footsteps caught his attention, and he looked up just as Uta was walking in the room. His boyfriend raised an amused brow as he looked at the scene before him. Renji followed his gaze, feeling a little guilty for the mess that was surrounding him.

"What are you doing, Renji-kun?" Uta asked, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned against his entryway. Renji looked away from him, scowling. He didn't appreciate the amusement in Uta's voice.

"Trying to wrap these damned gifts." He admitted quietly. He could imagine Uta's eyes widening in surprise before taking on a teasing gleam.

"Oh? Is this the reason you have been staying out late so many nights in a row?" Uta asked, and Renji heard him approach. He carefully moved the crumbled paper aside with his feet, taking care to check for any presents that got lost in the chaos. Once he reached the white-haired male, he dug himself a spot next to him and gracefully sat down.

"Yeah. For the kids." He grunted. Uta picked up Nishiki's present, inspecting the keychain for god only knew what.

"For Kaneki, you mean." Uta gently corrected, shooting him a pointed look out of the corner of his eye. Renji stiffened, and he frowned at the sly smile that crossed Uta's face.

"No need to be embarrassed, Renji-kun. I think it's sweet." The shop owner crooned, leaning over to place a gentle kiss on his lips. Renji's expression softened as he returned it, and he sighed as Uta settled against his side, resting his head on his shoulder.

"I can't make the paper lay correctly. Or get to the tape fast enough. Or cut the right amount of paper." He spoke up after a moment of silence. Uta kissed his cheek, offering him a kind smile.

"I closed up early today because of the storm we're supposed to get tonight, so I can help. Which one is giving you the most trouble?" Uta asked. Relief filled Renji. If there was one person he knew that had a talent for molding things together, it was Uta. After all, the man made masks for a living. Surely he would be good at wrapping presents, right?

"Thanks, Uta." He said softly. Uta simply shrugged, reaching for one of the presents.

"It's no problem at all, Renji-kun. Now watch what I do."

And so together, the two began to wrap the presents. Renji was in awe at how easy Uta made it look. He even knew how to make bows from scratch! His creases were perfect, and he never took paper or tape without a purpose. For the most part, Renji just sat there, occasionally putting his finger down to hold the paper or the ribbon.

"Where did you learn to do this?" He couldn't help but ask. Uta grinned, eyes lighting up. Renji braced himself for whatever tale this was going to be. The crazy ones were what brought that gleam to Uta's eye.

"A few years ago, as I was first getting in to the more elaborate masks, I decided to take a few classes at a local community college for arts and crafts. I scared the shit out of the entire staff and students when I strolled up with my kakugan out, which made me even happier and more convinced that this was the right thing to do.

There was a sweet little old lady that taught one of the classes, where I learned how to do this. It was designed to help event planners make the perfect gift baskets, you see.

She loved my eyes, as she thought they were 'spiffy.' We got along rather well, and she did her best to teach me all that she knew. 'It's so refreshing to see someone so young taking the simple things seriously' she had said.

She died two months after the class ended. Congestive heart failure." Uta explained. Renji's eyes widened. Unsure what to say, he leaned over and pressed himself against Uta's side.

"Oh, no I'm not upset, my sweet Renji-kun. This story is only getting good." He said. Renji had a bad feeling about where this could be going. "I enjoyed her so much that I went to the morgue to take her eyes." He explained cheerfully.

That didn't surprise the white-haired male at all. Uta had a collection of eyes from various people that he recreated somehow (or managed to preserve, it could go either way) from the people he found interesting or made an impact on his life. He would often promise Renji that if he died too soon, he would make sure that his eyes were safe.

Of course that didn't make Renji feel any better at all.

"So when I got there, a ghoul was already preying on her corpse. So we had a fight over the body, because the stingy bastard refused to just give me the eyes, and then the CCG walked in on us just as I was winning! So I used the little fool as a decoy, plucked the eyes from her head, and came home." He said, a pleased sigh leaving him as he finished his tale.

Renji shook his head. He could picture the entire situation in his head. It was just so…Uta.

"So if I want to learn how to wrap these things…I need to go through that?" He asked. Uta snorted, shaking his head.

"Silly Renji-kun, I can teach you. See, look, we're already done." To Renji's amazement, they were. He let out a sigh of relief as he looked at all of the completely wrapped presents.

"Thank god. I owe you, Uta." He said. Uta took the present from his hands and placed it aside before climbing in to his lap. Renji accepted him, surprised it had taken him this long.

"Cook me dinner?" Uta asked, nuzzling against his neck. Renji nodded, rubbing at his back.

"Sure. Though that doesn't count as paying you back, it's why I came over in the first place." He added sternly. Uta smiled against his neck.

"Oh, Renji-kun, I know. I'm going to save what I want for after dinner." He teased before nibbling on Renji's neck.

The white-haired male blushed, catching on to what he was saying.

"We need to clean up first, Uta." He pointed out, trying to push back the jolts of pleasure his groin was receiving as Uta sucked a hickey in to his neck. The smaller male laughed suddenly, pulling away from him.

"Actually, Renji-kun, I'm going to shower. You can clean up." He declared as he stood up. Renji rolled his eyes at the childish giggles falling from his lips, and as Uta disappeared from his view, he resigned himself to cleanup duty.

As he carefully moved the presents over to the coffee table, a small smirk crossed his face.

He could just tell that this Christmas was going to be a good one.

* * *

 **A/N:** Sorry if they were a little out of character! I thought it was so cute though. More people need to write things for these two. It was unbetad, so I apologize for any mistakes. Day 6 will be Akashi and Kuroko from Kuroko's basketball.

\- Kida-Asumi


End file.
